Sorry if there's another thread on this topic...I searched and couldn't find one.

My car's coolant is a little low. I think it was actually low when I bought it. I've never seen any leaks under the car, and I haven't really noticed any coolant smell in the engine bay, so I don't THINK there's a leak.

I do want to top if off, though. I've heard people say to go buy the Toyota Long Life stuff from a Toyota or Lexus dealer, vs. buying the green junk from a parts store.

Do you guys recommend the Toyota stuff, or will any kind suffice?

Thanks.

 

I would be interested to know this as well as mine is getting on the lower end too.

 

My coolant is also a little low in the expansion tank.

I've found this to be very common on toyotas' (I've seen it on a lot of toyotas that come into my uncle's shop). The expansion tank is usually always low, probably because it's not a closed system.

I have to top off my RX's coolant expansion tank every year or two. Only a few onces though. I attribute it to evaporation and the system not being closed.

 

In hot weather especially some of the coolant in the overflow tank does end up evaporating. As for coolant type, ALWAYS use Toyota brand coolant. The cost of the coolant is so small compared to the problems cheap coolant will cause.

 

^ +1 There is no reason to buy Prestone or anything else, when you can get Toyota coolant for about $20/gallon

 

Get it from Toyota. why mix it?

 

I'm not sure about these newer cars, but as far as I know we've always just put the green stuff in our 1992 (which my dad bought brand new) and there have never been any problems. It's what the manual recommmends and it cost like $8. There's a small leak so I have to top it off every week or two so I'm glad I don't have to buy the expensive red stuff... but like I said, the new cars might be different.

 

Oh I forgot to say this - I would not mix the red and green though. Not sure what would happen with that.

 

3VZ-FE engine has weak head gaskets, using cheap coolant is about the worst thing you can do on that engine. Eventually the contaminants will leech into the weak areas of the gaskets and they will fail, have seen this happen several times.

 

I spent the extra and got the Toyota. Reason being it is designed for their gasket material. The prestone stuff is not silicate free like the Toyota brand.

However, when talking with my Toyota tech he said it really doesn't matter. Just Change it regularly. I'm sure from a long term perspective it may show some signs of gasket degradation, but you'd probably need a microscope to tell!

I'd love to see some definitive evidence of a gasket failure based on the anti-freeze.

Simpliest top off method? Just add some distilled water. Water has the best cooling properties.

 

"does it matter?" Not to me. I started using the long life anti-freeze of any major brand. For instance if you look on the back label of the Peak brand it states "Silicate and phosphate free formula." Unless you think they are lying it doesn't mater.

My wife only wants to buy the the Clorox brand of bleach. She thinks Clorox is the only manufacturer that know how to make bleach properly. My response: Even the Russians know how to make bleach. Meaning, it just chemistry and surely Peak is capable of making a silicate free anti-freeze.

 

I went ahead and got some of the Zerex "Asian Vehicle" (pink) stuff from NAPA. It seems to have all the same properties as the Toyota stuff (silicate free, etc.). It's a pain in the butt to get over to the Toyota dealer. I'd rather go to NAPA, because it's like 2 minutes away.

 

I know what would happen. You'd get brown.